1st SAL.....Peg, Dale and I committed to stitching Anni Downs - A Gardener's Journal in March. I blogged about this on my blog thinking maybe one or 2 others may join us and lots of girls indicated an interest so I decided to start this blog where we can all encourage each other to meet the goals set along the way....March 2010 -March 2011...........

2nd SAL ......well so many of the girls wanted to continue on with another project and some new girls joined us and now approx 91 girls are stitching Natalie Bird's Tis the Season. March to Sept 2011...............

3rd SAL....many girls want to stick with the SAL so now we have moved onto Anni Downs Some Kind of Wonderful - My Favourite Things Quilt.......Oct 2011-Oct 2012.........

Where are we now.....

4th SAL 2013...is numerous smaller projects from the previous 2 books Tis the Season and Some Kind of Wonderful plus some projects from Red Home by Natalie Bird approx 60 ladies stitching together.........

6th SAL 2017.............A Holly Cottage Christmas by Michelle Ridgway.......once again the pattern is in an affordable book so it is easy for everyone to join in...........and you can raid your stash for the fabrics........or lash out and buy a the whole lot........this SAL will be run by Fiona aka Bubz Rugz and Raewyn........

Saturday, April 29, 2017

I thought I’d better
pop in and introduce myself as I’ve 'met' some of you before but not everyone J

I’m excited to be teaming up with Fiona to
host this Stitch-A-Long. … I’m Raewyn and I blog *here* at stitchingfarmgirl.

This is my first time
appearing here on this blog, although I was sorely tempted to join in with
Nature’s Journey, the last SAL here; I even went so far as to buy the pattern
but I never did quite get to the starting stage!

I have stitched a few
of Michelle’s designs before and was very quick to buy this book when she first
released it. I also took part in the re-creation of her quilt when the first
one was stolen, so I feel it only right that I actually make my own version.

Michelle with her re-created quilt

Did you realise there are a few smaller projects also featured in the book?

The back cover showing the additional projects.

I am thinking that if I
don’t have my fabric in time for the official start I might indulge myself and
make one of these … I might just make it anyway ... I’m still deciding which one; the “Cookies for Santa
tablemat” is my current pick … we’ll see.

{We're not officially starting till June so that should give us all plenty of time to get organised}.

I’ve enjoyed the odd
glimpse of fabrics I’ve seen on some of your blogs lately…and most of you have
responded to the request to be a blog author…SO ….why not blog here too and introduce
yourself. You could maybe even share your fabrics here, or one of Michelle’s
projects you’ve done or anything really that’s related J We’d love to get to know you better.

Michelle's Country at Heart alphabet is what I've been working on most recently.

Don’t forget to
contact Fiona or myself if you have any questions – or want help to write a
post. Our email links on on the left sidebar.

And of course feel
free to continue to share your fabulous work from the previous Stitch- A-Longs!

Monday, April 24, 2017

Wow - 15 of us confirmed for the Stitch-A-Long.... and a couple who are undecided at this stage..... There's still room for more if you are thinking about it.....

Here are a couple more pictures of the actual quilt which have been sent by Michelle ....

some close ups of a couple of the blocks....

Did you know the original quilt went missing /was stolen?????? Very sad but a bunch of people got together and made a new one - almost identical .....so Michelle still has one of her own....

In the book Michelle has a wonderful layout diagram for the quilt so this is going to be the basis for our making plan.....

As you can see we will start with the blocks in June.... which gives us May to make sure we have the fabrics and maybe make one of the smaller projects in the book????? There are some lovely doorhangers and gift tags that I'd like to do...

This morning I added names with links to your blogs on the right sidebar 2017 SAL ... please double check they work to your correct blog (some people have several links) and let me know if anything needs to be changed.

I also invited you to be blog authors (some already are) so those should come through too.

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Michelle is an Australian designer and last year produced this lovely Christmas quilt and pattern book. I snatched up a copy as soon as I could but good intentions have been kept at bay....

Now is the time to sew a new Christmas quilt....

Isn't it just too pretty?????

This is Michelle's book - as well as the quilt there are a number of other projects in it too.....

... and Guess What? Raewyn and I are going to host a Stitch-A-Long and we would love you to join us.

Chookyblue has kindly offered the use of the Stitch-A-Long blog so we can post our progress and keep encouraging one another to keep going.... Thanks Chooky -

We would love you to join us - the blog will still be available to those of you who are finishing off previous Stitch-A-Long quilts to post your progress.

Wanting to start in May - depending if people need a bit more time to gather supplies ....

Please let me know if you'd like to join.....

Holly Cottage Christmas can be purchased directly from Michelle.... details are in the sidebar of her blog....

Although Michelle did her quilt using Needleturn Applique, it lends itself well for blanket stitch (hand or machine) and there is some stitchery too as well as the piecing of the blocks, which are not complicated at all.....

I have a fat 1/8th pack of Anni Downs fabrics - and bought a bit of extra's for borders and background.... this is what I'll be using....

Taking names now... more details later ..... feel free to ask questions - I'm new at this hosting!